Resilient supports



C. E. LEJA RESILIENT SUPPORTS Origin Dec. 20, 1960 8.1 Filed April 10; 1957 F lHH H I l l l b FII United States, PatentO RESILIENT SUPPORTS Caslmir E. Leia, 6428 S. Francisco Ave., Chicago, 11!.

Original No. 2,856,982, dated oer/21, 195s, seem. 651,987, Apr. 10, 1957. Application for reissue Jan. 26, 1959,Ser.No.789,218 g e 8 Claims. (Cl. 155-517) Nlatter enclosed in heavy brackets I: appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

My improved device is applicable for various purposes, but is particularly useful in connection with vehicles such as tractors, or the like, and is especially intended for sup porting [motorcycle] seats and will be described in this connection. It includes the use of elastic cushioning elements interposed between two relatively rotatable members, the cushioning elements serving to resist such rotation. One of said elements may be embodied in a supporting casing which surrounds a substantially concentric rotatably yielding member mounted therein and cushioning or resilient elements are interposed between the outer and inner members which tend to hold the inner member in normal position.

When my improved seat support is used on a motorcycle, it provides a more ideal support for the rider as distinguished from such seats heretofore used having spring means to provide the resiliency. Furthermore, my improved resilient support is much more comfortable for the rider and does not have such reaction forces as common in the present seat supports for such vehicles.

Other advantages will be disclosed in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. l is a side view showing a fragmentary part of a motorcycle frame with a seat mounted on my improved support;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the supporting mechanism with the seat removed;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line -33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a detail of one of the stops or catches for holding the seat in adjusted position.

As shown in these drawings, 6 represents the top frame member or tube of any regular or special motorcycle. My support includes two frame members 7 and 8 to which the seat 9 is attached. These members have front lugs or brackets 10 and 11 to which the seat platen is attached as by means of'bolts 1'3 and 14 which extend through holes 15 and 16 in the brackets. The rear ends of the frame members are also provided with outwardly extending brackets 17 and 18. The rear portion of the seat member .12 is secured to these brackets by means of the bolts 19 and 20 which extend through holes 21 and 22 in the brackets as shown particularly in Fig. 1.

Two housing members 23 and 24 are mounted adjacent to the front end of the frame. These members are of generally triangular or otherwise polygonal shape in cross section and are secured together by means of bolts or cap screws 25 and 26 so that they form a substantially integral casing. These housing members have downwardly extending lugs 27 and 28 which are connected by straps 29 and bolts 30 with the frame member 6. The housing members also have rearwardly extending projections 31 and 32 which are fastened to the frame member 6 by a strap 33 and bolts or screws 34.

As will be seen from the drawings, the housing members provide a [substantially triangular] housing or suptriangular central member.

porting member having a substantially triangular or polygonal interior which may have as many sides as desired, but in the presen't instance, it is provided with three fiat walls or faces 35 and with ends 36. A relatively rotatable similarly triangular or otherwise polygonal member 37 is mounted concentrically in the casing, the several members being held together by a bolt 38 which extends out through the side members 7 and 8 and is provided with a locking nut 39.

Each end of the triangular member 37 is provided with a circular ratchet or teeth 40, 41 which coact with corresponding ratchet members 42 and 43 on the inner faces of the frame members 7 and 8 for adjusting the relative normal positions of the member 37 and casing formed by the members 23, 24 to vary the tension of the seat as will presently be explained.

Short resilient compression members 44, 45 and 46 are interposed between the faces of the triangular center member and the corners of the casing as best shown in Fig. 3. These compression members may be formed of rubber, synthetic rubber, or other suitable elastic material and fit snugly within the spaces provided. Each of the elastic members is provided with a plate or lining 47 for bearing engagement with the faces of the central triangular member. The metallic plates or [lining] bearing members 47 are preferably bonded to the compression members during the manufacture of the same. The central member is preferably made of steel and normally there would be an excess of friction between the faces of this member and the rubber resilient members which coact therewith. The plates 47 may be made of any suitable relatively non-deformable material to overcome such friction and to permit the more or less sliding action between the several members during the operation of the devices. I have found that bronze plates vulcanized to the rubber members form a satisfactory contact for this P P As indicated in Fig. 3, it will be seen that when the seat 9 is actuated, it tends to swing down on the bolt 38 and to compress the resilient members surrounding the This compression provides excellent support for the seat and increases the riding pleasure. In order to prevent the seat from swinging up beyond a predetermined distance and in order to give a predetermined amount of tension, I provide dogs 48 and 49 which are pivoted to the lugs '50 and 51 on the frame members 7 and 8 and project inwardly to engage with stops '52 and 53 on the casing members 23 and 24 as shown in Fig. 2. When the tension is to be adjusted, the rear part of the seat is pressed downwardly until these dogs are below the lugs when they are swung in so that they will engage the lugs and hold the side pieces in such adjusted positions. The bolt '38 is loosened so that the ratchets on the arms may move relatively to the ratchets on the center member until the desired tension resulting from the variance in the compression of the members 44, 45, 46 is obtained.

From this description, it will be seen that I have provided a resilient support which I have found in actual use to be more comfortable and satisfactory than other motor cycle seats heretofore produced.

What I claim is:

1. A resilient support for seats or the like, including a casing to be held in fixed position, a multiple-sided member rotatably mounted in the casing, compression members between the walls of the casing and said rotatable member for resisting the turning movement of the rotatable member, and friction reducing metallic plates attached to the respective compression members and engaging the walls of the rotatable member which tend to prevent rotation of the compression members.

2. A resilient support for supporting seats or the like,

including a substantially triangular casing having side and end walls, meansfor attaching the casing to a motorcycle frame, a triangular compression member rotatably mounted in the casing, means for adjusting the angular position of the compression member with respect to *the casing, means for attaching a seat to the compression member, resilient compression pieces interposed between the triangular member and-the inner corners of the easing, the apexes of the triangular vmember extending substantially out to the walls of the casing, anti-friction inserts between thetriangular member and the compression members, the arrangement being such that when the triangular member is turned, it will tend to compress the compression members without rotating -in the casing, and means for adjusting the position of the seat with respect to the casing to regulate the tension on the seat.

'3. In a resilient support, the combination of an outer casing, an inner compression'member coaxially mounted in the casing for limited rotation relative thereto, aphirality of pads of resilient cushioning material positioned between the casing and the inner member which normally tend to resist the turning of the inner member with respect to the casing, non-friction plates secured to the inner faces of the pads and engaging with the sides of the compression member, means for securing the casing to a supporting member, frame arms secured to the compression rnembenratchet connections between the frame arms and the compression member, and means for holding the arms in adjusted positions with respect to the casing.

4. A resilient support comprising, a casing, a multiplesided member mounted in said casing, said casing and said member being relatively rotatable, compression members between the walls of said casingand the sides of said multiple-sided member for resisting relative rotation thereof, said compression members directly engaging and being free from attachment to said casing, and substantially non-deformable bearing elementssecured to the respective compression members and slidably engaging the adjacent sides of said multiple-sided member.

5. A resilient support comprising, acasing, a polygonal member mounted in said casing for rotation relative thereto, compression members between the walls of said casing and the flat surfaces of said rotatable member for resisting relative rotation thereof, and substantially nondeformable bearing plates secured to the respective compression members and freely engaging the adjacent flat surfaces of said rotatable member to permit relative sliding movement therebetwe en.

6. A resilient support comprising, a casing having a substantial polygonal interior, a similarly polygonal member mounted in said casing for-rotation relative thereto,

compression members between the corners of said casing interior and the bounding flat surfaces of said rotatable member for resisting relative rotation thereof, said compression members directly engaging and being free from attachment to said casing, and substantially non-deformable bearing plates secured to one side of each of the respective compression members and freely engaging the adj cent s fa of sai rota able mem e t Pe mi rel ive s id ng movement :lherl1?1-'1 fl- 7. A resilient support comprising, ,a casing having a substantially triangular interior, a triangular member rotatably mounted in said casing with the apexes thereof normally extending toward the interior walls of said casing, compression members between the corners of said casing interior and the flat bounding surfaces of said rotatable member for resisting relative rotation thereof,

said compression members each having one normally flat bounding surface, and substantially non-deformable bear- ,ing plates secured to the fiat surfaces of each of the respectivecompression members and slidably engaging the adjacent flat surfaces of said rotatable member.

.8. A resilient support comprising, a casing, a multiplesided member mounted in said casing, said casing and said member being relatively rotatable, compression members between the walls of said casing and the sides of said multiple-sided member for resisting relative rotation thereof, saidvcompression members directly engaging and being free from attachment to said casing, substantially nondeformable bearing elements secured to the respective compression members and slidably engaging the adjacent sides of said multiple-sided member, and means for adiusting the relative normal positions of said multiple-sided member and said casing to laterally deform and thereby vary the compression of said compression members.

References Cited in the tile of this patent or the original patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,219,142 Williams Oct. '22, 1940 2,219,144 livilliams Oct. 22, 1940 2,232,667 :Saurer Feb. 18, 1941 2,570,970 Murray Oct. 9, 1951 2,729,442 Neidhart Jan. 3, 1956 .FQREIGN PATENTS 84,254 Sweden Sept. 3, 1 935 

